The curious case of David Ortiz’s Hall of Fame

Although the player has all the statistical and award-winning merits to reach Cooperstown, many skeptics point to the “Mitchell Report” as proof that “Big Papi” does not belong to immortality.

David ortiz is one of thirteen new names that will appear for the first time on the voters’ ballot for the Cooperstown Hall of Fame. The former player was successful as the starting designated hitter of Boston Red Sox for more than a decade and his name is synonymous with the success of the team during the first two decades of the 21st century.

The Dominican is considered one of the best designated hitters in history, has three championships of World Series, 10 invitations to the Stars game and seven awards Silver bat in his carrer. He culminated his 20-year stint for Big leagues With a batting average of .286, along with an OPS of .931, 2,472 hits of which 541 were home runs and 632 were doubles, 1,768 RBIs, while he scored 1,419 times.

Their numbers are evidently those of a future member of the Hall of Fame, but about the candidacy of Ortiz weighs a shadow that for some reason does not seem to disappear: the Mitchell report.

For those who do not remember, the “infamous” Mitchell report was an investigation carried out and published in 2007 by the then US senator, George mitchell. In the same 89 names of players of MLB that, according to their research, they would have used performance-enhancing substances.

Ortiz is not directly mentioned in the aforementioned report, however, a 2009 article of the New York Times indicated that the player would have tested positive for a substance in 2003. At the time, the former player said that he would investigate what he had allegedly tested positive for and that he would then share the information he understood pertinent with his club and his fans.

Nevertheless, Ortiz He never gave an explanation and rumors kept haunting him, despite never having failed a test conducted by MLB, as indicated by the Commissioner himself Rob manfred in 2016, the year in which “Big daddy”Withdrew from MLB.

Since then, Mitchell report has been heavily criticized for the way the information was obtained. From alleged interviews with expeloteros, as well as confessions that were obtained from the suppliers of substances, as part of arrangements to avoid years in prison.

The shadow of that report has always rested on Ortizeven after Rob manfred said that he believed in the possibility that the supposed result of the Dominican could be a false-positive thrown by the test.

This report has been a shadow on many players with merits to enter the Hall of Fame and with names like Barry bonds, Roger clemens and Sammy Sosa, all accused of using performance enhancing substances, voters may be hesitant to cast votes for David ortiz.

Nonetheless, Ortiz remains a well-loved figure in American baseball, serving as an analyst on foreign networks for the postseason, which is to say that he is well regarded among those related to MLB.

The reality is that, under the circumstances, there is someone who can break the rhetoric created by the Mitchell Report that for years has cost many players the opportunity to enter the Hall of Fame, that is David ortiz.